Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas recently went on a frenzied rant in which he pledged, “We shall enter Jerusalem — millions of fighters!” it was revealed on Wednesday.
In a video uploaded to Abbas’ Facebook page on August 10 and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Abbas spoke at the Jalazone refugee camp near Ramallah, declaiming, “We shall remain [here], and nobody can remove us from our homeland.”
Presumably referring to Jews, Abbas proclaimed, “If they want, they themselves can leave. Those who are foreign to this land have no right to it.”
In a statement that could have referred to the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but also to the Jewish state in its entirety, Abbas pronounced, &ldq...

David Koch, a billionaire industrialist and philanthropist whose fortune and hard-edge libertarianism had a profound effect on American politics while making him an uncommonly polarizing figure, has died. He was 79.
Koch, who had suffered from prostate cancer for many years, announced in 2018 that he was stepping down from his positions at Koch Industries and the Koch political and philanthropic networks. His death was announced in a statement from Koch Industries. Information about the date and place of death was not immediately available.
Koch and an older brother, Charles, transformed the Wichita-based family company, which they had taken over from their father Fred in the 1960s, into a global conglomerate with interests in everything from petroleum and ranching to a wide variety of c...

New York State will receive more than $178 million in anti-terror funding from the federal government to protect synagogues and other houses of worship, Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand announced on Thursday.
The funding will come from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), through the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI).
UASI, which funds “high-threat, high-density urban areas,” includes the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP). This funding is administered by the DHS’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to assist institutions in preventing, responding to, or recovering from terror attacks.
The two senators also announced nearly $77 million in State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) for New York State. The funds are to be used for fi...

Amid the controversy over US President Donald Trump supposedly questioning the “loyalty” or “lack of knowledge” of Jews who vote for Democrats, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin told US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that the alliance between the United States and Israel is “not dependent on the relationship with one particular party.”
“The relationship between the State of Israel and the United States is a link between peoples, which relies on historical ties, deep and strong friendships, and shared values that are not dependent on the relationship with one particular party,” Rivlin said to Pelosi in a phone call on Wednesday, according to a readout from the Israeli government press office.
“We must keep the State of Israel abov...

Israel bombed Iranian weapons warehouses in Iraq three times in recent weeks after reaching an understanding with the United States and Russia, the London-based pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat reported on Wednesday.
Western diplomatic sources told the newspaper the understanding stresses that Jerusalem not publicly take responsibility for the attacks in order to control regional blow-back.
Iraqi media reported that a weapons depot of the Popular Mobilization Forces was hit on Tuesday night. Israel has reportedly been behind bombings against Iranian targets in Iraq and Syria.
The head of an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia, Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, claimed on Iraqi TV network Al Sumeria that the United States allowed Israeli aircraft to operate in Iraqi airspace to attack bases be...

A Palestinian man was shot by Israeli Defense Forces late Thursday night after he hurled several grenades at Israeli soldiers on duty near the Israeli-Gaza border fence.
The IDF said no soldiers were injured. The attacker was wounded, but IDF did not comment on his condition.
The incident follows a flare up of rocket fire from the Strip into Israel overnight, marking the sixth in just a week as tensions between Israel and the Gaza Strip continue to escalate.
Read more at i24NEWS.

Close to 100 leaders of the Daf Yomi community flocked to Flatbush to learn more about the Agudah’s upcoming Global Siyum Hashas of Daf Yomi taking place at MetLife Stadium on Wednesday, January 1st, 2020.
Agudah executive vice president Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel welcomed participants warmly at Agudas Yisroel Bais Binyomin, introducing Agudah chairman of the board Shlomo Werdiger who spoke about the unprecedented wave of hasmada that has taken place in recent months, as excitement for The Siyum continues to build in every corner of the world.
Numerous global initiatives to promote limud haTorah have inspired thousands to be kovea itim&n...

In general, during summer break there is a significant increase in the number of people using public transportation and specifically, Israel Railways. This year, with the addition of Yerushalayim’s Yitchak Navon station connecting the Railway to the central lines of the country, more travelers are using the railway lines than any previous summer. Over the past week, Israel Railways reported a sharp increase in the number of average daily passengers using the trains around the country.
In the stations of Yerushalayim, Beit Shemesh and Netivot there was a reported increase of 22 percent in daily usage. As a result of the increase, Israel Railways has reiterated to passengers that their safety depends upon following the security guidelines set out by transit provider for proper condu...

Amazon officially announced the opening of a Hebrew website for vendors and is pushing for Israeli companies to joint the service.
The site also offers international businesses to use Amazon’s logistical system in Israel.
“We are currently working with sellers in Israel to help them sell worldwide with Amazon Global Selling. Local Delivery is one aspect of Global Selling that looks to improve the opportunities for sellers in Israel to sell more effectively to customers in Israel who shop on Amazon.com,” Amazon said in a statement.
“We hope that through this program, we will be able to provide our customers in Israel with even more local products to choose from with quicker deliver speeds. We will share more information shortly,” it stated.
Amazon is also o...

Seven members of a frum family were set upon by a swarm of bees at a park in Safsufa, and were evacuated for further medical treatment at Ziv Hospital in Tzfas.
MDA was called to the park to provide medical care to the seven family members – two adults and five children ages 4 to 10 – after the family was attacked by a swarm of bees during their outing. The family had been driving a jeep on a track when hundreds of bees began to attack them, stinging the family members dozens of times each.
After the initial treatment, the family members were evacuated to the hospital for further medical treatment.

Our Son, Hadar Goldin, Was Abducted By Hamas. We Want His Remains Returned.
Five years ago this month, our son Hadar Goldin, a second lieutenant in the Israel Defense Forces, was abducted by Hamas militants during a humanitarian cease-fire in the 50-day war along the Gaza border with Israel. The militants dragged him into the tunnel from which they had apparently emerged. Hadar was killed – it is not clear how – during the ensuing firefight as Israeli forces raced to try to rescue him.
To this day, we believe that Hamas holds our son’s remains, presumably as a bargaining chip to extract political concessions – just as it holds the remains of Oron Shaul, another Israeli soldier who was killed during the conflict, as well as hostages Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-S...

Two residents of the Arab city of Tamra in the Lower Galilee have been arrested for allegedly planning an Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack, Israel’s Shin Bet security agency said Thursday.
Twenty-two-year-old medical student Amin Yassin and 28-year-old Ali al-Aroush, who had previously been arrested for alleged affiliation with ISIS, face charges of supporting a terrorist organization, contact with a foreign agent, receiving terrorist training and conspiracy to commit a terrorist attack.
According to the Shin Bet, “The two support ISIS and even see themselves as its emissaries until such time as an Islamic State [branch] is formed in Israel.”
Yassin and Aroush had also downloaded dozens of files containing “substantial ISIS-related content,” incl...

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned on Tuesday that Iran will be “unshackled to create new turmoil” when a U.N. arms embargo on Iran and a travel ban on the leader of the regime’s elite Quds Force is lifted in October 2020.
“Time is drawing short to continue this activity of restricting Iran’s capacity to foment its terror regime,” he said at a U.N. Security Council meeting about the latest in the Middle East, which also included mention of the situations in Yemen and Libya, and threat from the Islamic State. “The international community will have plenty of time to see how long it has until Iran is unshackled to create new turmoil and figure out what it must do to prevent this from happening.”
Pompeo noted that the U.S. State Departm...

In what appeared to be a bizarre attempted terror attack, a Palestinian man attempted to strangle an employee of the Israeli Interior Ministry at the Allenby Bridge border crossing with Jordan on Wednesday.
According to Israeli news site Mako, the 35-year-old resident of Nablus was reentering Israel from Jordan when the employee happened to pass by.
The Palestinian man then attacked the employee and tried to strangle him with a rope. Guards at the crossing responded to the victim’s cries for help and overpowered the attacker.
The guards handed the attacker over to security forces.

The parents of the late Lt. Hadar Goldin — an IDF soldier who fell in battle in the Gaza Strip during Operation Protective Edge and whose body was kidnapped by Hamas and is still being held by the terrorist group — met in New York on Wednesday with Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon.
According to a statement published by Danon’s office, the diplomat told Leah and Simha Goldin that Israel was “continuing to focus its efforts at the UN and with senior members of the international community on returning Israeli prisoners and missing persons to their homes.”
Hadar Goldin is one of two IDF soldiers — the other being Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul — who died in the summer 2014 Gaza war and whose remains have yet to be handed over to Israel.
“Holdin...

President Trump on Wednesday said his administration is once again seriously considering an executive order to end birthright citizenship months after several lawmakers cast doubt on his ability to take such action.
“We’re looking at that very seriously,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for Kentucky. “Birthright citizenship, where you have a baby on our land — walk over the border, have a baby, congratulations, the baby’s now a U.S. citizen.”
“We are looking at birthright citizenship very seriously,” he added. “It’s, frankly, ridiculous.”
Read more at The Hill.

Iran is prepared to work on French proposals to salvage the international nuclear deal that Tehran signed with world powers in 2015 but it will not tolerate US interference in the Gulf, its foreign minister said on Thursday.
At a time of heightened friction between Tehran and Washington, Iran also on Thursday displayed what it described as a domestically built long-range, surface-to-air missile air defense system.
The United State abandoned the international nuclear deal in May last year and stepped up sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
In an effort to prop up the agreement, French President Emmanuel Macron offered on Wednesday to either soften sanctions on Iran or provide a compensation mechanism “to enable the Iranian people to live better” in return for full compliance wi...

A 2-year-old Israeli boy is moderately injured after being mauled by a tiger in Thailand.
According to reports, the incident took place at a zoo in the city of Ko Samui. The boy was rushed to a local hospital where he was undergoing surgery. Doctors said the boy was in stable condition and that there is no threat to his life. He will be flown back to Israel soon.
The circumstances of the incident were not immediately clear.
Read more at Times of Israel.

The United States and Israel signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Wednesday to strengthen the alliance between the two countries.
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator Mark Green and Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz signed the global partnership agreement in Jerusalem to enable “the American and Israeli private sectors to help increase employment opportunities and build resilient communities” and further “development cooperation in water, education, technology, science, agriculture, cyber-security and humanitarian assistance,” according to USAID.
“Today’s occasion is an opportunity to celebrate this bond, which has driven all dimensions of our bilateral relationship. It is also an opportunity to renew and deepen o...

Sen. Bernie Sanders , I-Vt., proposed a $16.3 trillion climate plan Thursday, an expansive blueprint meant to enlarge American ambitions when it comes to combating planetary warming in a campaign season already marked by aggressive Democratic approaches.
The Sanders proposal, like his plan to replace private health insurance with a federal system, envisions a significant expansion of the government’s role in the economy. He would offer billions in subsidies to replace gas-guzzling vehicles with electric ones by 2030, a new public system of clean electricity generation that could sideline private utilities, and an infrastructure program that would remake much of the economy and employ an estimated 20 million more Americans.
The sheer scale of the effort – which the senator com...